ISJ Exclusive Q&A: CEO and Co-Founder of Sharry

Josef Šachta, CEO and Co-Founder, Sharry discusses the company’s major projects and its objectives in the intelligent building market.

Can you tell us about the projects you have completed in Europe?

Founded in 2016, Sharry’s first milestone was “Connected by Skanska”. This system was delivered to 20+ class A office buildings developed by Skanska in the CEE region, including the award-winning complex, Spark, in Warsaw. 2019 saw the launch of Sharry Workplace, which combines four verticals – access, visitor management system, parking software and tenant engagement app.

We are in ten European countries, including the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Hungary. Last quarter, we announced an entry into the Spanish market where we delivered our office technology to smart, the first Spanish intelligent building. Our workplace experience platform is now also being used in Belgium at Kortrijk Business Park; we are also announcing an exciting project in London soon!

We are a global company with projects all around the world. In 2020 we became a technology partner at One Vanderbilt, the neomodern high-rise redefining Manhattan’s skyline and we have delivered our solution to 24 skyscrapers under the SL Green Realty portfolio. And, in 2022 we successfully introduced employee badges in Apple Wallet at 167 Green Street, making it the first multi-tenant office building in the US to launch this groundbreaking access innovation.

How important is integration when it comes to access and workplace management?

Integration and the connection of individual systems is what sets Sharry apart from its competitors. We have fully running integrations with more than 25 access control systems and mobile credentials providers; our platform is open to any third party integrations. Our objective is to build a workplace experience platform that offers an all-in-one solution. How does this work? In the past, you perhaps had a plastic card to enter the building, another one to enter the office and a third one for parking. That’s history now. Sharry is able to give you access to all spaces with just one mobile badge.

How is your integrated workplace platform making buildings more intelligent?

Our primary objective is to make buildings user friendly – not wired and full of sensors. We want to ensure that employees have an enjoyable workplace experience. Through one app with a mobile badge, they can easily access their workplace, book parking or shared desks, grant access to visitors and more. It eliminates the need for third parties and makes the process much more convenient.

In the post-pandemic world, building managers and landlords are interested in occupancy data. When you read about commercial real estate, you will see conversations about the office comeback and how landlords are approaching hybrid work. That’s where data comes into play. Sharry Insights helps landlords answer questions connected to building performance.

What are your major focuses for 2023 and beyond?

We have been fortunate to work with some class A office buildings all around the world and provide our solution for their tenants. As we continue to build our product portfolio, mobile access is crucial. This has been significant for our partnership with Apple and our rollout of employee badges in Apple Wallet. We’re excited to bring this feature soon to the UK as well. As we continue expanding internationally, our focus is on enterprise clients and helping them with building hybrid and ESG-friendly workplaces based on a data driven strategy.

This article was originally published in the April edition of International Security Journal. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.